HB 2268

House Engrossed
state trust land;
  subleases; approval
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2268
AN
ACT
amending title 37, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 37-111; Amending sections 37-281
and 37-283, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the lease of state
lands.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 37, chapter 1, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 37-111, to read:
START_STATUTE37-111. State lands wind farm; solar farm; prohibition of conveyance of
commercial lease of right-of-way
Notwithstanding any other law, a person with an
INTEREST in a COMMERCIAL lease or right-of-way on state lands for a wind farm
or solar farm may not convey the INTEREST to any other person.END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 37-281, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE37-281. Lease of state lands for certain purposes without advertising;
terms and conditions
A. All state lands are subject to lease or sublease as provided in this article for a term of not more
than ten years for agricultural, commercial and homesite purposes,
without advertising. The leases or subleases
shall be granted according to the constitution, the law and the rules of the state land department.
B. No A
lease or sublease shall not be
granted as provided by this section without application. All
applications for leases or subleases shall be made upon on forms prepared and furnished by
the department, shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant or his
the applicant's authorized agent or attorney and shall be
filed with the department. In lieu of signing and swearing to the
application before a notary public or other person who is
authorized to take acknowledgments, the applicant may affix his
the applicant's signature to the application, accompanied
by a certification, under penalty of perjury, that the information and
statements made in the application are to the best of his the applicant's knowledge and belief true, correct and
complete, and the application shall be accepted as duly executed.
C. Any material false statement or concealment of
facts made by an applicant, his the
applicant's authorized agent or his the
applicant's attorney in the application to lease, which, if known to the
department, would have prevented issuance of the lease in the form or to the
person issued, shall be grounds for cancellation of a lease issued upon on such application.
D. No A
lessee shall not use lands leased to him
the lessee except for the purpose for which the lands are
leased.
E. No A
lessee shall not sublease lands leased to him
the lessee without written application to
and written permission of the state land
department.
F. Except as otherwise provided in
this article, a sublessee shall not use state lands subleased to the sublessee
except for the purpose for which the lands are leased.
G. The Commissioner may not authorize
or issue a right-of-way on state lands that are used for grazing if the purpose
of the right-of-way is to serve a proposed wind farm or wind
turbine unless all of The following conditions apply:
1. The grazing lessee approves the
right-of-way in writing.
2. The county board of supervisors of
the county in which the land is located approves the wind farm or wind turbine
in writing.
3. The Arizona Corporation Commission
approves the wind farm or wind turbine in writing.END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 37-283, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE37-283. Subleases by
grazing lessee; limitation on grazing use; sublease surcharge
A. A grazing lessee shall not sublease his the grazing lessee's lease or sell or
lease pasturage to lands included in his the
grazing lessee's lease,  without written application to and written permission from the state
land department as prescribed in section 37-281. A
grazing lessee, his the grazing lessee's sublessee
or users under pasturage agreement shall not graze, without written permission
of the department, in excess of the carrying capacity as previously determined
by the department, upon on state
lands under lease or being used by such persons, within the exterior boundaries
of any one ranch unit or units in the same general locality jointly
operated. If permission is granted for such excess, the department
shall assess and collect the rental for the excess on the rental basis provided
for in this article.
B. In addition to the annual rental on grazing lands
established pursuant to section 37-285, grazing subleases are subject to
a surcharge that is equal to twenty-five per cent percent of the annual rental on grazing land, multiplied by the
number of animal unit months to be grazed on the subleased state trust
land. The surcharge shall be assessed only for that period of time
the state trust land is subleased. The surcharge shall be paid to
the department when the annual rental is due, or upon on receiving department permission to sublease if the sublease
is approved after the annual rental is due. END_STATUTE